Los Angeles - The UCLA women's soccer team received its highest NCAA Tournament seeding in the eight-year history of the program Sunday, earning a No. 6 seed in the 48-team NCAA Women's Soccer Championships. The Bruins received a first-round bye and will take on Wednesday's winner between USC and San Diego this Saturday at UCLA's Drake Stadium beginning at 1:00 p.m.

UCLA, ranked No. 5 in the latest NSCAA national rankings and No. 3 in the Soccer America poll, enters the tournament with a 15-3-1 overall record and 6-2-1 mark in Pac-10 play. The Bruins have faced both USD and USC this season. UCLA defeated USD 3-0 back on Sept. 24 in San Diego and tied USC 1-1 in double overtime at USC's Memorial Coliseum back on Oct. 8.

"We will take it one game at a time," said UCLA head coach Jillian Ellis. "They do the tournament by region so we knew we were going to get a Southern California team and those two (USC and USD) are two of the best."

This is UCLA's fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament, having participated in 1995, 1997, 1998 and 1999. UCLA reached the quarterfinals back in 1997, falling to Notre Dame in South Bend.

"I like our chances and I feel really good about how we're starting to play as a team," said Ellis. We're starting to gel at the right time and I feel we have as good a shot as anyone."

UCLA will enter Saturday's game with a 14-game home unbeaten streak. The Bruins were 6-0 at home during the regular season this year and were 7-0-1 at home in 1999. The Bruins last home loss was an NCAA Second Round defeat to BYU back on Nov. 14, 1998.

With seven teams making this year's tournament, the Pac-10 received more bids than any other conference. Following the Pac-10 was the ACC with six teams and the Big Ten with four.